The Hindu Business Line : `Open' chat on Linux

Novell recently launched version 10 of SUSE Linux Desktop. eWorld caught up with Revathi Kasturi, managing director, West Asia SUSE Linux, to check out the level of activity amongst users of open source software. Excerpts from the conversation:

We hear that there is some controversy regarding the third version of GPL3, what with Linus Torvalds (the person to whom Linux owes existence in its current form) saying that he disagrees with parts that deal with Digital Rights Management?

Since we build the operating system (OS) from the open source, the respective components of the OS follow the licence of what we are doing. A lot of the components that Novell releases in the Open Source gets released in the GPL 2. One is not forced to use GPL3. It is not an automatic `upgradation'. It is up to the software licence. A lot of them release under the LGPL licence, which is the `lesser', or modified, GPL.

If, for instance, one is developing a tool that is to be embedded into a device, and he wants to build an application around the tool... and, if the tool is under GPL, then the application that is wrapped around that also comes under the GPL.

But if one does not want to do that, then he can use the LGPL, and in that case the application need not be released under an open source licence.

Aren't there enough applications in the open source arena taking off? Is that obstructing the spread of open source software?

On the server side, you have 1,800 applications that are available and certified to work on the SUSE Linux enterprise application platform. We sell SUSE Linux as a subscription. The Open Source business model is not about making money on licences but on ongoing services- updates, patches, upgrades, migration. Novell's revenues accrue from these services. Linux today has more applications than the Mac does.

There are 2-3 tangible reasons why large independent software vendors (ISVs) are moving to Linux.

In today's development process, there is one single team with one small Intel box at a low cost and the ISV develops the application on that and because Linux runs across hardware architectures — on mainframes, laptop, on Intel Server.

Because of this, one can deploy his application across hardware architecture without needing to have that many teams and infrastructure to have different versions and to keep them all updated. On the one hand, it makes it that much easier. On the other, it drives the development costs down.

The other customer-determined reason is that he has a fixed budget. If one spends most of his budgets on base infrastructure, he will have little money to spend on adding more applications. Hence if the customer can reduce cost of ownership of base infrastructure, he can get a better play.

I understand the fierce competition that the open source players give players in the proprietary space, such as Microsoft. How about competition within the Open Source space?

We are good in engineering capabilities. The ability to quickly integrate and offer support is the differentiation. SUSE has a technology called Auto Build whereby they have automated the entire bill process. A single piece of source code compiles for seven different hardware applications. When we announce version 10, on the same day, we make it available for these seven different applications. Enterprise customers have an option with Linux from Novell — it has got high security, freedom from virus and lots of functionalities. It is top-of-line.

Customers want competition and more players in this space is a healthy sign. Choice brings out the best in all companies.

We understand that even at the time of acquisition, the cost of Linux services is sometimes costlier than its proprietary counterparts...

Linux is not free-of-cost business. It takes the revenue model from a licence perspective and turns it into a services revenue model. When a customer buys a Linux distribution for a high-end server, he is not paying for licence of using the software but he is paying in advance for support, services, updates, upgrades, patches, telephonic support. On a TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) comparison — a like-to-like one-year subscription with the licence model, Linux could work out a tenth cheaper.

How does repeat business contribute to your revenues?

In terms of renewals of subscriptions, there are different types of customers. Some are very capable of handling all the support themselves, such as big, mature organisations that may have a Linux practice. They could download the patches from the Web site and integrate it. There may, of course, be a small lag between the time the software is released to the open source community and something that is given as a patch. For the subscribers, the support centre provides support in 24 hours. There are other organisations who may not renew for cost reasons — they may not be able to afford it. Hence they are ready to continue with older versions.

But a majority of the organisations would want to have the machines working all the time and would not want the bother of managing it. We are looking at 75-80 per cent of customers coming back.

The 20 per cent dropout would be because of cost factors or because they have the competence and capability to handle the support function internally.

Also, the new strategy from a Linux point of view is to move away from the `Linux for Geeks' mantra. The Geeks will continue to exist, but they may not need support. There are a set of enterprises that will need support and services just like any other product

Open Source pricing... Pricing has never been an issue. Customers have not got swayed away by the transactional moment of pricing. Reasons for acceptance are different and of strategic nature — readiness for Open Source deployment, skill status in their particular geography and industry, application availability. The availability of commercial Linux — enterprise class Linux with commercially available support — is critical to adoption. The adoption rate is quite exciting. We have a global support centre based out of Mumbai that supports customers in India, Europe and the US. We have special support pricing for the Indian market.

What's your market share in the open source arena?

This is early days in terms of defining market share for the Indian market. It is still evolving. We believe we have set the bar very high with the launch of version 10. In just the last 20 days, 3,60,000 people have downloaded our new version i.e. one person downloading this software every six seconds.

bharatk@thehindu.co.in